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Tokyo stocks close higher with eyes on trade talks
TOKYO, March 29, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Tokyo stocks closed higher on Friday, as
investors took heart from rallies on Wall Street and a relatively cheap yen
against the dollar with their eyes on US-China trade talks.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended up 0.82 percent or 172.05 points to
21,205.81. Over the week, the index lost 1.94 percent.
The broader Topix index was up 0.56 percent or 8.79 points to end at
1,591.64, but over the weekend it lost 1.57 percent.
“The rallies in US shares and a relatively cheaper yen is helping the
Tokyo market,” Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities,
said in a commentary.
Attention is on Beijing where top Chinese and US negotiators are taking
part in their latest batch of talks aimed at ending their long-running trade
row that has dragged on the world economy.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the negotiations were not
“time dependent” and could be extended, adding they could take weeks or
months to get a final deal.
Ito said the US-China negotiations “won’t be helpful to push up share
prices further unless the talks generate something tangible.”
The dollar fetched 110.73 yen in Asian trade, up from 110.62 yen in New
York and 110.13 yen in Tokyo on Thursday.
Wall Street stocks rose on Thursday following a recovery in 10-year US
Treasury yields, after weakness in bond rates in recent sessions raised
worries about slowing economic growth.
Japan’s closely watched factory output rose modestly in February with
unemployment staying at record low levels, official data showed Friday before
the opening bell, underscoring the patchy recovery of the world’s third
largest economy.
In Tokyo, some blue-chip exporters were higher, with Hitachi closing up
1.24 percent at 3,585 yen, electronic parts maker Kyocera ending up 0.96
percent at 6,500 yen and camera maker Nikon up 1.36 percent at 1,561 yen.
Pharmaceuticals firm Daiichi Sankyo surged 16 percent to the day’s limit
of 5,100 yen, after it announced a tie-up with AstraZeneca for development of
a cancer drug. The deal could be worth as much as $6.9 billion, a statement
from Daiichi Sankyo said.
BSS/AFP/HR/1402